The USS Constitution made it’s annual turnaround cruise Tuesday, hailing Independence Day and the crowds that came out to view her with two volleys from her historic guns, a 21-gun salute at Fort Independence at Castle Island, and a 17-gun salute off the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Boston, the former site of the Edmund Hartt’s Shipyard, where she was launched in 1797.
Guests on board included 150 members of the public who won the spot in a lucky lottery draw for spaces.
The turnaround cruise dates to the 1950’s when it was deemed necessary to make the change so that the historic ship’s hull weathered evenly.
The USS Constitution is the oldest commissioned warship afloat and earned the nickname “Old Ironsides” in the War of 1812 when British cannonballs were seen bouncing off her wooden hull.
